Charleston home sales median price February 07 - 08
The median price for all Charleston home sales dropped by 3.91% from February 07 to February 08.
| Median Sale Feb 07 | $204,500 |
| Median Sale Feb 08 | $196,500 |
| Change | -3.91% |
Median price is a funny thing, consider this: 1, 2, 5, 10, 1000. 5 is the median, in other words, the middle number of all numbers. Now of course, when you are considering hundreds or thousands of numbers, the median would be a little more accurate. But last year when I used to post the median price each month from one year to the next, there were large increases or decreases each month and it didn't seem to tell an accurate story. I started to use the sales price for 12 consecutive months and compare them to the sales price for the previous 12 months and to me, it seemed to more accurately reflect Charleston market trends.
Median price is considered a measure of affordability and in general, one of the reasons quoted for the housing downturn was the eventual lack of affordability after years of larger than average home price appreciation. Indexes by Case-Shiller and OFHEO use the median price to express increases or decreases in home prices. Our Charleston South Carolina real estate market has fared far better than many other markets around the country. Prices have remained stubbornly steady despite rising inventory and fewer unit sales. High supply and low demand should result in lower prices and despite anecdotal evidence that prices were slipping a little (advantageous purchases readily available to buyers), the statistics really never consistently demonstrated that.
But in light of the dramatic price declines reported by the media this week that likely scared most homeowners and potential homebuyers, Charleston prices continue to remain reasonably stable. Look for more Charleston housing market trends to be posted in the next few days.